blogging!

I'm back blogging! How amazing is that? (Very amazing, if you knew how many times I've tried to blog, only to be foiled by bad internet connections.) Still not back in the US, for those of you who are wondering.

Much has happened.

There was Zanzibar - buzzing around in a car the size of a pocketbook, accidently driving south instead of east and then having to drive all the way back up along an often-questionable dirt road which once disappeared and left me nowhere to drive but the beach, fishermen staring at me all the way, turning a one and a half hour drive into a four and a half hour drive. This island lives up to all expectations, by the way. I had heard so much hype that I expected to be disappointed and initially was, with Stonetown, which is, you know, a town, although it does have a fish-fry every evening in the dark along the waterfront that has atmosphere even if the snapper, tuna, etc all appear to be the same fish that they lie to you about when they tell you that they are different fish. But then there was the pocketbook-sized car, which freed us from Stonetown and then the island was fantastic. It's like Africa, with amazing beaches. Seriously, what could I possible love more?

There was Nairobi - I did something that probably stands near the top of the list of things not to do in a random African capital, which I'm not saying yet on this website although I promise you it was hygienic. I checked. The first night, there was this hotel that lasted about four minutes because there were two huge cockroaches that scuttled through the room as we entered. IE killed one and then there was another and then we left. We told the receptionist, nicely, that we had spoken to some friends and we had another place to stay, then burst through the door as B arrived with his coworkers (he was on leave from Somalia) and said, "We couldn't stay there, there were huge cockroaches! We didn't even dare set down our bags!" and then realized that the receptionist could hear and our polite lies were for naught. But we stayed at my favorite Methodist Guest House for a night even though it is expensive and then B's friend E offered us his extra rooms, for which we thank him profusely (also I thank him doubly because he works in southern Sudan and is going to tell me what I might be able to do there next summer :-). So IE and I were free to do what we do best: shop. Trust me, we (well, mostly IE, but I helped) have completely revitalized three economies in East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya) through the sheer power of purchasing everything in sight. Except for the part where I'm a pretty strict bargainer (this is why IE brings me along) and so maybe we didn't pay enough to revitalize everything.

Now there is Rwanda - what can I even say? I love this country. The best part is being here and the worst part is that I don't know when I'll be back. I went to Kibuye. I rode motorbike taxis without helmets (hey, I tried the helmets once and they stink. A lot.). I bought some masks and stuff. I sat and did nothing and looked at the lake and the hills. I took the Okapi (as G calls it, the Okrapi) for the first time and didn't die. Possibly partly because I made friends with the driver and told him that I was afraid of the big buses that hurtle down that road and asked if he could please drive slowly so I would feel safer. I think he did.

I still want to buy land in Kibuye, except I don't have any money.